Method of digitally processing sinusoidal ac signals

ABSTRACT

A sinusoidal ac signal is subjected to periodic sampling having a period Delta t. There is made a product of one sampled value of the signal taken at a certain sampling point and another sampled value at the next sampling point apart, by an interval of time equal to the period Delta t, from the previous sampling point. If the product is of negative value, a zero point of the signal must lie between the two sampling points. The zero point can equivalently be obtained by drawing a straight line passing the two sampled values. On the basis of the zero points of sinusoidal ac signals obtained in such a manner as above, the frequencies, phase differences, powers and the impedances of the associated transmission lines are obtained by means of a digital computer.

ilnited States Patent [1 1 Nohara et al.

[ Sept. 11, 1973 I METHOD OF DIGITALLY PROCESSING SINUSOIDAL AC SIGNALS Inventors: Haruo Nohara; Junichi Makino, both of Hitachi, Japan 3,663,956 5/1972 Purdy et al. 324/83 D Primary ExaminerCharles E. Atkinson Assistant Examiner-R. Stephen Dildine, Jr. Attorney--Craig, Antonelli & Hill [57] ABSTRACT A sinusoidal ac signal is subjected to periodic sampling [30] Foreign Application Priority Data having a period At. There is made a product of one N 9 1970 J an is/97903 sampled value of the signal taken at a certain sampling ap point and another sampled value at the next sampling point apart, by an interval of time equal to the period [52] Cl z'7 ZZ F6 ZZ z At, from the previous sampling point. If the product is 51 I t Cl G06 l5/20 13/02 of negative value, a zero point of the signal must lie be- 'g 235/15l tween the two sampling points. The zero point can equivalently be obtained by drawing a straight line 21 5 5 1 15 2; g passing the two sampled values. On the basis of the zero points of sinusoidal ac signals obtained in such a manner as above, the frequencies, phase differences, powers and the impedances of the associated transmission [56] uNlTE g gfr zi gs grfrENTs lines are obtained by means of a digital computer.

3,569,785 3/1971 Durbeck et al. 235/15l.3l X 10 Claims, 24 Drawing Figures CONTROL CIRCUIT SAMPLE AND 3 -52 -33 $4 HOLD CIRCUIT SCAN AN ALOG- BUFFER DlSCRlM I NING NATOR DIGITAL Q CIRCUIT CLOCK MEMORY PUZ s5 GENERATOR SECTION VERTER twat :5.

BM SAMPLE AND HOLD I s S CRCUT /9 2/ 23 25 PAIENIED 1 3.758.763

IN VENTORS HARUO NOHARA J'UNICHl MAKINO BY Cuba, (Mahala; Q m

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FOR DETECTION? I i 1 I READ THE SAMPLED 4 ANOTHER JOB I VALUE Mtn) /07 P Ammo-mm ADD UNITY To THE cp At||,At|2 NUMBER k 0F SAMPLING PULSES NOT PERTAPNING A33 .TO THE DERIVATION c HE PERIOD T OF ZERO POINT I -55 CD T TQ| YES ouTPu l N5 Cp T T02 /4/ OUTPUT2 v YES ANOTHER JOB START AS BY INTERRUPTION ANOTHER JOB FEAD THE SAWLED VALUE Nth) c Ann-Imam /07 /09 /V0 (tn-l) A(in)=0? /2/v YES MEMORIZE'AS k+| .av Cp Atll, Auz ADDING ,UNITY TO THE NUMBER k OF SAMPLING 'PULSES NOT'PERTAININGI k o 749 TO THE ozmvmou 0F v ZERO POINT c Ai|2+k-A1 -/5/ Wiimmmli? 1,

I Cp AmuX 1/55 OUTPUT Cp lAmoxl-Aog I Y "J63 /65 Amoxl-Aozo YES OUTPUT 2 ANOTHER JOB I 67 sum 1a or 14 PATENTEU SEP1 1 ms METHOD OF DIGITALLY PROCESSING SINUSOIDAL AC SIGNALS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of digitally processing sinusoidal ac signals.

2. Description of the Prior Art A variety of faults will arise in electric power transmission systems. For example, one of them is a shortcircuit between transmission lines themselves or transmission lines and the earth due to a thunderbolt. And there is a need for protecting the power transmission system from such faults. For this purpose various kinds of protective relays have been developed and in every power system a protective relay system has been employed which is considered most suitable for the type of the power transmission system.

The conventional protective relays to detect, for example, the under-voltage due to a fault, the distance to the fault or the direction of the fault are constituted of suitable analog circuits adapted for respective functions. Accordingly, a great number of such relays are needed for practical purposes. However, not only are the production costs of these relays usually high, but also there are some difficulties in checking and maintenance, thus giving rise to problems.

With the recent development of digital computors an attempt has been made to replace the protective relays by digital computors of universal use. The operational reliability is of the utmost importance for the protective relays. From the standpoint of reliability, therefore, much is expected of a digital computor which may have multiple functions, although it might still have some problems. Many experiments have been performed, some of which have been reported in IEEE. At IEEE Summer Power Meeting held on Jtgne 23 to 28 in 1968, GD. Rockfeller announced a paper titled Fault Protection with a Digital Computor (Paper No. 68 TP 625 -PWR), and at IEEE Summer Meeting and International Symposium on High Power Testing, held on July 18 to 23 in 1971, GD. Rockfeller and E.A. Udren an nounced a paper titled High-speed Distance Relaying Using a Digital Computor" (Paper No. 71TP567- PWR). These papers indicate that the replacement of such protective relays by a digital computor is in increasing demand.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention has been led from the concept that a judgement equivalent to judgement on the operation of protecting relays constituted with analogue circuits can be achieved entirely by digital computation, if the zero point (that is, a point at which the polarity of an AC quantity changes) of the input ac quantity led thereto and the magnitude of the ac quantity at a given point of time are obtained. This invention proposes a method for digitally processing an ac quantity to allow a digital computor to effectively deal with the determination of the zero-point and the input ac quantity as well as the digital computation.

According to this invention, any input ac quantity is sampled at a predetermined interval, the sampled value being multiplied, at each sampling point, by the value sampled at the last previous sampling point and if the product is a negative value, detection of the zero point is performed, the thus obtained zero point being used as the base for various digital operations and judgements and an input quantity at an arbitrary sampling point being also used for further various purposes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a wave form diagram for illustrating the basic principle of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a wave form diagram for illustrating the invention applied especially to the detection of frequencies of sinusoidal signals.

FIG. 3 is a wave form diagram for illustrating the invention applied especially to the detection of phase difference between two sinusoidal signals.

FIG. 4a to FIG. 4k are also wave form diagrams for illustrating the possible discriminating patterns occurring between sinusoidal signals in case of phase difference detection as in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a basic structure of one embodiment of the invention. 4

FIG. 6 is an impedance diagram for illustrating the mho characteristic of a protective relay.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart drawn for the detection of the zero points of ac signals.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart drawn for the detection of phase differences between two sinusoidal ac signals.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart representing the function of a frequency relay.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart representing the function of a peak detecting relay.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart representing the function of a power detecting relay.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart representing the function of an impedance relay.

FIG. 13 shows the constitution of the discriminator section of the structure shown in FIG. 5, comprising elements each having a single function and designed to embody the flowchart shown in FIG. 8.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 is a coordinate representation of a sinusoidal ac signal A(t) (hereafter referred to briefly as ac signal) whose amplitude varies .with the duration of time, the abscissa and ordinate measuring time and amplitude, respectively. The figure shows how the zero points of the ac signal A(t)are detected according to the method of the invention.

Now, let is be taken that the amplitude of the ac signal A(t) at a time t, be A(t while that at another time t be A0,), as in FIG. 1. Therefore, if the condition or inequality holds such that then the zero point of the ac signal A(t) must lie between the two time points t and that is, AU) becomes equal to zero for a time t such that t, 5 t a t,. And this is always true where the interval At between t, and t, is taken shorter than the period T of the ac signal A(t).

Assuming that the zero point of the ac signal A(t) lies between t and t consideration is next given to the relationship between the point t (assumed zero) on the abscissa where a straight line passing through the point represented by A0,) and the point represented by A(t, intersects the abscissa and the point r (actual zero) on the abscissa where A(t) becomes zero, that is, A(t 0. It is known that if the points t, and are appropriately chosen the points z and r may coincide with each other. For arbitrary selection of t, and 1 however, they usually differ from each other. The time interval A! from t, to t and the time interval Ar from 2,, to t, are given by the following expressions:

12 H (ml ltlAunl +l 2)|)1-A By reference to FIG. 1, therefore, it follows that t t At Hence, the assumed zero A(t of the ac signal A(t) can be obtained. Investigation will now be made into the difference between the points t and i.e., the error At involved in the case where the ab-' scissa t giving the actual zero A(t is approximately obtained by the use of the abscissa t giving the assumed zero A(t and the expressions (2) and (3) above. It is concluded, from trial calculations where many arbitrary values smaller than one half of the period T of the alternating current A(t) are substituted for At, that the error At, is, at the most, about 1/36 1r radian (=5) in terms of phase angles associated with the ac signal A(t) if A! takes values less than A T.

Accordingly, the present invention contemplates a method of calculating the zero point of the ac Signal A(t) by virtue of the above introduced expressions (1), (2) and (3), in which a sampling signal is used that has sampling period A! shorter than a quarter of the period T of the ac signal A(t). Also, according to the present invention, there is provided a method of digitally processing alternating current on the basis of such zero points as obtained in the preceding artifice, by which method the same result can be obtained as may be attained by a protective relay system now in use.

FIG. 2 is a wave form diagram for illustrating the artifree of zero point derivation described in conjunction with FIG. 1, applied especially to the frequency detection of the ac signal A(t). The ac signal A(t) is sampled at points of time t t t the period of sampling being At such that At 5 AT, where T is the period of the ac signal A(t). As is apparent from the foregoing description made by reference to FIG. 1, the products A(r )'A(t,), A(t-,)-A(t,) and-A(t )'.4(t are all negative; A(n), A0,) and A(t being the instanteous valves of the ac signal A( I) sampled at moments t,, 1-, and t,;,, and A(r A(z,,) and A(t being the instantaneous values of A(t) sampled at moments r,, I and I succeeding, after one sampling period At, respectively to the moments 1,, t and I And it is ascertained at 1,, 1,, and t that the ac signal A(t) will have zeroes respectively between t, and t,, t, and t and t and t Consequently, the times At Al Al Al AW and AW respectively from I, up to the first zero, from t, up to the first zero, from t, up to the second zero, from up to the second zero, from I up to the third zero, and from I up to the third zero, as seen in FIG. 1, can be derived through the method described by reference to FIG. 1. Now, the period T and the half thereof T/2 are given by the following expressions:

T/2 5At Ar t' (4), and

T= 11A: Al Ar",,

Accordingly, by calculating the reciprocal of T from the above formula (4) or (5), the frequency of the ac signal A(t) can be obtained. The multiplying factor, i.e., the numeral coefficient, of At in (4) is equal to the number k of sampling pulses not pertaining to the derivation of zero points of ac signal A(t), while that of A: in (5) equal to k 1. Although the period T of the ac signal A(t) can be obtained from both the formulae (4) and (5), the formula (5) should be employed where the alternating current A(t) contains a dc component of transience.

Reference should now be made to FIG. 3, with which the detection of the phase difference between two ac signals. A(t) and B(t) by simultaneous sampling having a predetermined sampling period At will be described.

As described with FIG. 2, the alternating currents A(t) and B(t) are simultaneously subjected to sampling at 2,, t r,.,, to produce the corresponding instantaneous values A(t B(t,), A(t B(r A(t )B(t A(t BU etc. As to the alternating current A(t), the derivation of zero points is possible at the moments t and t whereas with respect to the ac signal B(t) its zero points can be detected at t and t Therefore, if the times Ar Ar At' At AW and AW etc. from the respective sampling points to the associated zero points can be derived, then the phase differences between the ac signals A(t) and B(t) respectively for the moments t and t,, are

(1) Ar 2A: At'

(6), and

(b 7r (A1 ZAt At n) Here, also, the coefficients of Ats in the above expressions (6) and (7) are equal to the number of sampling pulses not pertaining to the derivation of zero point of the ac signal, as the previous description with FIG. 2 has indicated.

As results from the above, the expression for calculating the phase difference between A(t) and 8(1) take two forms (6) and (7) depending on the points of zero point derivation although the correlation between the ac signals A(t) and B(r) remains invariant. That is because in this invention, as is apparent from the description made by reference to FIG. 1, the derivation of zero point is performed regardless of whether the amplitude of the ac signal A(t) varies from negative value to positive one or vice versa. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the relation between A(t) and B(t) when one of the formulae (6) and (7) is desired to be employed.

Which one of the formulae to choose can be easily determined by examining the patterns shown in FIGS. 4a through 41:.

FIGS. 40 to 4d show patterns in which the phase difference between the ac signals A(t) and 8(1) is equal or less than 1r/2, the patterns in FIGS. 4a and 4bcorresponding to the case where 1r/2 Z At (At is the sampling period such that 1r/2 At and the patterns in FIGS. 40 and 4d to the case where At 2 0. FIGS. 4e and 4f give the patterns in which the phase difference 4) is zero while FIG. 4g indicates that 4: 17. In the patterns of FIG. 4h to 4k, it is seen that w/Z d; 11'. More precisely, 1-r/2 (1rAt) for FIGS. 4h and 4i, and (1rAt) 1r for FIG. 4j and 4k. In sum, the patterns in FIGS. 4a to 4d correspond to the cases where the ac signal A(t) lags in phase behind the ac signal B(t), in FIG. 4g A(t) is opposite in phase to B(t), and in FIGS. 4h to 4k A(t) leads B(t) in phase. Conditions a), b) and c) attached to each pattern provide a quantitative base for discriminating the phase relation between A(t) and 8(1). Even if the phase relations betwen A(t) and B(t) as shown in FIGS. 4a to 4k are inverted, the phase discrimination is possible merely interchanging the roles of A(t) and 8(1) in the conditions a and b. In conclusion, as apparent from FIG. 3 and the formulae (6) and (7), the phase difference 4) should be calculated by virtue of the formula (6 if one of the patterns of FIGS.

4a to 4d is the case or by virtue of the formula (7) for one of the patterns of FIGS. 4h to 4k.

Description will now be made of how the patterns of FIGS. 40 to 4k should be interpreted. The sampling points t and t correspond to t and t t and t t and or t nand t in FIG. 3. The sampling period is A r. The points t and are respectively the points where the ac signal B(t) and A(t) change from the negative level to positive one or from the positive level to negative one. Namely, 8(1) and A(t) becomes zero respectively at t and In FIGS. 4a to 4k, t and are the actual zeroes of B(t) and A(t) but they can be regarded as the assumed zeroes as obtained according to the artifice described with FIG. 1, that is, t in FIG. 1. The time intervals Ar and A1 are measured respectively from t to t, and from to Now, the phase difference between the ac signal A(t) and B(t) will be calculated at the moment t after the zero of A(t) is found to lie between t and t If in this case the conditions hold such that b. B(t,) 0 B(r 0 and C. Ato Atoz then the relative positions of A(t) and B(t) will be respresented in the pattern of FIG. 4d. And the formula (6) is used for the calculation of the phase difference. Different patterns are taken for other conditions.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the basic structure of a device as one embodiment of the invention, which device can detect the frequency of ac signal and the phase difference between different ac signals. The device in FIG. 5 has two inputs for ac signal A(t) and [3(1), but only one of the signals A(t) or B(t) may be used. A clock pulse generator 11 produces a train of clock pulses having a predetermined sampling period At. Sample and hold circuits 13 and 15, when they receive clock pulses from the clock pulse generator 11, hold the instantaneous values of the input signal A(t) and 8(1) corresponding to the clock pulses received until the operation of an analog-digital converter, which is described later, is completed. A control circuit 17 supplies various circuits, which are later described, predetermined control signals set in a predetermined timing relation to the clock pulses from the generator 11. A scanning circuit 19 passes the outputs from the sample and hold circuits l3 and alternately in response to the signal S from the control circuit 17. An analog-digital converter circuit 21 converts, in response to the signal S from the control circuit 17, the outputs of the sample and hold circuits 13 and 15 transferred through the scanning circuit 19 into corresponding digital signals. A buffer memory 23 stores the output of the analog-digital converter circuit 21 in response to the signal 8;, from the control circuit 17. A discriminator section 25 reads out the data concerning the ac signals A(t) and B(t) stored in the buffer memory 23 in response to the signal S. from the control circuit 17 and then performs predetermined arithmetic and discrimiative operations.

The signals 8,, S S and S delivered from the control circuit 17 are not of the same kind but different so that the discriminator section 25 may perform desired discriminating operations, as will be described later.

The description of the basic structure shown in FIG. 5 and of wave form diagrams shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 will reveal how the zero points, and the period of the ac signal A(t), and the phase difference between the ac signals A(t) and B(t) are to be derived. However, operations to derive such quantities as period and phase differences along do not satisfy the function of a protec tive relay in current use. Therefore, it is described below how the data obtained from the above described constitutions are to be utilized to fulfil the functions of various protective relays.

l. Phase-difference detection relay The discriminator section 25v is so designed as to produce an output only when the phase difference 4: obtained according to the artifice described with FIG. 3 and FIGS. 4a to 4k is greater or smaller than a predetermined value 2. Frequency detection relay The discriminator section 25 is so designed as to produce an output only when the period T or %T obtained according to the artifice described with FIG. 2 is no longer or shorter than a given interval of time T or AT or T or lzT 3. Peak-value detection relay The energization or deenergization of a relay such as an over-voltage relay, an over-current relay, or an under-voltwge relay which operates upon detection of a peak value in ac signal A(t), is determined as follows.

As is apparent from the wave form diagram of FIG. 2, the time Ar from the moment t, to the zero of the ac signal A(t) cun be derived according to the artifice described with FIG. 1, after the ac signal A(t) is sampled at t And the instantaneous value or sampled value A(t of the ac signal A(t) at is given by the experession:

A02) m" Sin (A112) where Ag, is the amplitude peak of the ac signal A(t).

Therefore, the peak value A is given by the expression:

the ac signal A(t) at and 2 are calculated respectively by the formulae:

03) A sin (Ar At (8), and

A(t A sin (2A2 Ar Consequently, the peak value can be obtained by the following formulae:

m: ('a)| i ia) 9), and

maz li 12)i For other points of sampling t etc., similar formulae will be derived through similar steps of analyses.

Therefore, the peak value can be obtained for every sampling point so that a protective device which responds to the peak value of the input signal can be realized by the use of this mechanism. In this case, a more reliable discrimination could be expected if it is ascertained before the operation of the protective device that all the calculated results at several successive sampling points satisfy a predetermined condition or if the peak value for k-At At nearest 1r/2 is used as a criterion of discriminating the abnormality, where k is the number of sampling pulses having nothing to do with the derivation of the zeroes of the signal.

4. Power detection relay The energization or deenergization of such a relay as a power directional relay or a power flow monitor relay which operates by detecting a quantity corresponding to the product of voltage and current, is determined as follows.

Let it be assumed that the ac signals A(t) and B(t) in FIG. 3 are the voltage represented by Vsin wt and the current represented by [sin (wt-(b), respectively, then it is clear that the phase difference d: between the voltage and the current can be derived according to the artifice described with FIGS. 3 and 4. Also, as is apparent from the above description of the peak value detection relay, the peak value of the voltage or the current can be derived for every sampling point.

On the other hand, power P as the product of voltage and current is given by the expression:

P Vlcos Therefore, the power P can be calculated from separately obtained quantities V, I, and 4), first by calculating comb from d: and secondly by making a product of V, I and court. The thus calculated power is then used as a criterion of discriminating the abnormality. In this case, a particular value of cosd may be derived from one of the previously stored data of cos which corresponds to a particular value of (b, in order to simplify the calculation of cosrb.

5. Impedance detection relay The energization or deenergization of such a relay as an impedance relay to serve as a distance relay or a mho relay to serve as directional distance relay, which operates by detecting a quantity corresponding to the ratio of voltage to current, is determined as follows.

It is well known that if the voltage and the current measured in a certain ac circuit are given respectively by Vsin wt and [sin (wt-11 the impedance Z, the reactance X and the resistance R of the circuit are such that Z W! X=V/Isin, and R V/Icosda Therefore, only the ratio of voltage to current is necessary to be calculated for the impedance relay. For the reactance relay or the resistance relay, too, it is only necessary to derive sin 4) or cos from d) and to calculate the product V/I sin (b or V/I cosib. In this case, also, as in the power detection relay, a particular value of sin d: or cos 4) is made to be detained from one of the data of sin or cosd; previously stored for various values of ti; which corresponds to a perticular value of d).

FIG. 6 shows an impedance diagram of a mho relay, in which resistance is taken as the abscissa variable and reactance as the ordinate variable. As is apparent from FIG. 6, the mho relay is equivalent to an impedance relay (with a setting impedance 2,) parallel shifted from the origin of the coordinate system to a point whose abscissa and ordinate are equal respectively to a setting resistance R, and a setting reactance X Therefore, by using Z, X and R obtained from the expressions (l l), the following relation is obtained:

quantities required to be obtained so as to analyze the functions of the protective relays. As is apparent from FIG. 5 which shows the basic configuration of one embodiment of the invention, according to the invention the ac signal is sampled at constant period to provide the corresponding digital information, which is then fed to the discriminator section that judges from the digital information whether a predetermined condition is satisfied or not, and the overall operation of the individual elements is governed by the control circuit. The flowcharts given below correspond to the discriminating operations associated mainly with the discriminator section.

I. Flowchart for zero point detection operation FIG. 7 shows a flowchart for the detection of the zero points of an ac signal. At step 101 is instructed a start as by an interruption. Such an interruption may be one of the sampling pulses 1,, t which are described with FIGS. 1 to 4 and which serve to start this flow of zero detection or may be other signals by which the computor is adapted for other purposes. Discrimination is made at step 103 of whether the interruption is for the start of the zero point detection flow or not. The flow follows the course labeled YES" if the interruption is for the start of the zero point detection flow, but

follows the other course labeled NO otherwise. If the flow advances along the NO course, as the result of the discrimination at the step 103, then the computor is disengaged from the job of discrimation and sets about another job at step 104. If the result of discrimination at the step 103 is YES, the instantaneous value of an ac signal A(t) at a moment 1,,, Le. A( t,,) is read at step 105. At step 107 the product A(t,, A(t,,) of the instantaneous value A(t,, at a sampling point t just preceding the sampling point t,, and the value A(t,,) is

made and calculated. At step 109' discrimination is' made of whether the value of the product calculated at the step 107 is equal to or less than zero or greater than zero. If the product is equal to or less than zero, that is, A(t,, ,)-A(t,,) 0, the flow follows YES course to reach step 111. If the product is larger than zero, that is, A(t,, ,)'A(t,,) the flow follows NO course to reach step 1 where the computor is disengaged from the job and sets about another job. If the result of discrimination at the step 109 is YES, then at step 111 At and Ar are calculated according to the artifice described with FIG. 1. Thus the zero point of the ac signal A(t) can be derived from the data with respect to the sampling points t,, or t,,. Then, the computor completes its job and sets about another job at step 113.

2. Flowchart for phase difference detection operation FIG. 8 shows a flowchart for the detection of the phase difference between two ac signals A(t) and B(t). In this flowchart steps 101 to 111 are similar to those indicated at the samenumerals in the flowchart of FIG. 7.'Only a major difference is that in this case the two ac signals A(t) and 8(1) are introduced. Further, after At and At are calculated at the step 111, the operation of reducing the coefficient k of At to zero, which will be described later, is performed at step 112, and even if the result of discrimination at the step 109 is NO, the computor does not immediately set about another job but step 115 is reached to calculate the product B(t,, ,)-B(t,,). And at step 117 discrimination is made of whether the product is equal to or smaller than zero or greater than zero, as at step 109. If the result of discrimination at the step 117 is YES, that is, B(t,, )-B(t,, 2 0, At, and At' are calculated at step 119 to derive the zero of the ac signal B(t). At step 120 the operation, which will be later described, of reducing the coefficient k of At to zero is performed. If the result of discrimination at the step 117 is NO, this corresponding to the point I in FIG. 3, then the coefficient k of At is changed to k l by adding unity thereto at step 121, k being the multiplier of At occurring in the case of a phase difference calculation. If the result of discrimination at the step 109 or the step 117 is YES, then not only A! and A! or At' and At' are calculated at the step 111 or 119 respectively, but also step 123 is reached where the relative lag or lead in phase between the ac signals A(t) and 8(1) is detected. This detection is performed according to the patterns shown in FIGS. 4a to 4k. At step 125 is calculated the product k-At of the number k of the sampling pulses not partaining to the derivation of zero point and the sampling period At. At step 127 the phase difference 4: is calculated on the basis of the formulae (6) and (7). At the step 121 or 127 the operation of this phase difference operation may terminate, but in order to simulate exactly the function of a relay which produces an output only when the relation between the phase difference qi and a setting value (it, is such that (I: g (b, or that another step 129 has to be provided to examine the relation. And according to the results of the previous examination the respective outputs are to be delivered or step 131 for another job may be reached.

3. Flowchart for frequency detection operation FIG. 9 shows a flowchart for the operation of detecting the frequency of an ac signal A(t). In this flowchart steps 101 to 109 and step 111 have the same roles as the corresponding steps 101 to 109 and 111 in the flowchart for the zero point detection operation. If A(t,, -A(t,,) is greater than zero, the flow follows the NO route to reach step 121 where unity is added to the stored number k of the sampling pulses not pertaining to the derivation of zero point to form k 1. And the computor sets about another job at step 130. If the result of discrimination at the step 109 is YES, step 111 is reached to derive At and A1 Then step 133 is reached to calculate the period T, the period T being calculated, for example, from the formula (5). The multiplier of At at a certain particular sampling point is the value at the particular sampling point of the number k stored in the computor at the step 121. At step 135 is obtained the difference between the period T obtained at the step 133 and a setting value T Discrimination is made of whether condition that T T 2 0 is satisfied or not, at step 137. If the result of discriminationis YES, the YES routeis followed to deliver an output 1 indicating that the frequency is lowered below a certain level. If the condition that T T 5 0 is not satisfied, the flow takes the N0 route to reach step 139. At the step 139, T T is calculated from the period T and the setting value T and at step 141 discrimination is made of whether the calculated result satisfies the condition that T T 0. If the condition is satistied, the flow takes the YES route to deliver an output 2 indicating that the frequency is raised above a certain level. On the other hand, if the condition is not satisfled, the NO route is followed to reach the step 130. At the step 130 the computor will set about another job.

4. Flowchart for peak-value detection operation FIG. 10 shows a flowchart for simulating the function of a peak-value detection relay. Also, in this case, steps 101 to 109 and 111 are the same as the corresponding steps in the flowchart for the zero point detection operation. If the result of discrimination at the step 109 is NO, step 121 is reached to store k 1 which is made up by adding unity to the number k of the sampling pulses not pertaining to the derivation of zero point. When the result of discrimination at'the step 109 is YES and therefore A! and At are calculated at step 1 11, the stored number k is cleared to zero at step 149. Atstep 151 Al k-At is calculated and at step 153 sin (A1,, k'At) is calculated. Finally, a peak value A m is calculated by virtue of the formulae (9), (9) and (9)" at step 155. Since in this invention the point of time at which a series of calculations are started is renewed each time the ac signal reaches its zero, the absolute value of A is calculated at step 157. At step 159 the difference lA l A between lA l and a setting value A is calculated. At step 161 discrimination is made of whether the condition that IA I 

1. A method of digitally processing sinusoidal ac quantities for the operation of a power system, said method comprising the steps of: sampling at least one ac input quantity at a constant period and holding the sampled values; converting each of the sampled and held values into a digital quantity; storing said digital quantity; producing, at every sampling, the product of a digital quantity corresponding to the instantly sampled value and the stored digital quantity corresponding to the value sampled at the preceding sampling; judging whether said product is one of a negative value, a positive value and a zero value; and determining a zero point of the sinusoidal ac quantity on the basis of said two digital quantities from which said product has been obtained and the sampling period, if the result of the above judgement is one of a negative value and a zero value.
 2. A method according to claim 1, which further includes additional steps of: determining the sine of an angle equivalent to the time of the zero point relative to the sampling point; and deriving the peak value of the sinusoidal ac quantity from the value of said sine and the digital value of the quantity at the sampling point.
 3. A method according to claim 1, which further includes additional steps of: counting the number of the sampling periods contained between two adjacent zero points of the ac quantity; and determining the frequency of said ac quantity from said number of sampling periods and said two sampling points.
 4. A method according to claim 1, which further includes additional steps of: judging the one of lag and lead in phase between two sinusoidal ac quantities from the respective digital values of said two quantities taken at two sampling points; and determining the phase difference between said two ac quantities from the result of the above judgment and the respective zero points of said two ac quantities.
 5. A method according to claim 4, wherein two sinusoidal ac quantities are the voltage and the current in a power transmission line and said method further includes additional steps of: determining the sine value of one of said two ac quantities on the basis of the zero point, and one of lag and lead relation in phase and the phase difference between said two ac quantities, deriving the peak value of said one ac quantitY from said sine value and the digital value of said one ac quantity, determining the sine value of the other of said two ac quantities on the basis of the zero point, the one of lag and lead relation in phase and the phase difference between said two ac quantities, deriving the peak value of said other ac quantity from the sine value thereof and the digital value of said ac quantity, and determining the ratio of the respective peak values of said ac quantities.
 6. A method according to claim 4, wherein two sinusoidal ac quantities are the voltage and the current in a power transmission line and said method further includes additional steps of: determining the sine value of one of said two ac quantities on the basis of the zero point, the one of lag and lead relation in phase and the phase difference between two ac quantities, deriving the peak value of said one ac quantity from said sine value and the digital value of said one ac quantity, determining the sine value of the other of said two ac quantities on the basis of the zero point, the one of lag and lead relation in phase and the phase difference between said two ac quantities, deriving the peak value of said other ac quantity from the sine value thereof and the digital value of said ac quantity, determining the cosine value of an angle corresponding to the phase difference between said two ac quantities, and deriving the product of said cosine value and the peak values of the respective ac quantities.
 7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of sampling includes sampling a plurality of ac quantities.
 8. Apparatus for processing sinusoidal ac signals comprising: first means for generating a timing signal for the sampling of at least one ac signal; second means for sampling each said ac signal in synchronism with said timing signal and for holding the sampled values of each said ac signal for a predetermined time; third means for generating at least first, second, third and fourth control signals in accordance with said timing signal; fourth means responsive to the first control signal for selectively passing the outputs of said second means; fifth means responsive to the second control signal for converting the output of said fourth means into a corresponding digital quantity; sixth means responsive to the third control signal for storing the output of said fifth means; seventh means responsive to the fourth control signal for receiving the output of said sixth means; said seventh means including means for providing output of the product A(tn). A(tn 1), A(tn) and A(tn 1) being the sampled values of each said ac signal A(t) at a certain sampling point tn and another sampling point tn 1earlier by one sampling period than tn, respectively, sign means for providing a first output when said product is one of a negative value and a zero value, and means responsive to the first output of said sign means for determining the zero point of each said ac signal in accordance with the sampled values.
 9. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said sign means provides a second output when said product is a positive value, and counter means responsive to the second output of said sign means for counting the number of sampling pulses occurring during the interval when the second output of said sign means continues to be positive.
 10. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein two ac signals are sampled, and said seventh means includes means for calculating the phase difference between the two ac signals in accordance with the zero point of one of the two ac signals and the zero point of the other of said two ac signals. 